of Georgia, Williams was finally acquitted by a jury in Augusta in May 1989, eight years after his arrest. Death On January 14, 1990, eight months after his acquittal, Williams died unexpectedly in his home, at age 59, from pneumonia and heart failure. He was discovered by Doug Seyle, one of Williams' employees, who let himself in after receiving no response at the front door. Reportedly, Williams collapsed in his study, near where Hansford also fell. Other sources state he died in the foyer. Williams is buried next to his mother, who survived him by seven years, in Ramah Church Cemetery, Gordon, Georgia. Williams' father, who died six years before him, is buried in Danville, Georgia. At the time of his death, Williams was restoring the mansion at 126 East Gaston Street, known today as Savannah College of Art and Design's Granite Hall, which he had purchased.Granite Hall – SCAD.edu The mansion appeared in the movie version of Midnight in the Garden as the venue for the Married Women's Card Club. In popular culture The book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, about Hansford's murder and Williams' subsequent trial for the killing, was written by author John Berendt and published in 1994. A New York Times Bestseller and finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction, the book was adapted into a movie directed by Hollywood veteran Clint Eastwood in 1997. "Kevin Spacey played Jim Williams -- badly," Berendt said in a 2015 interview. "He didn't even come close. I had offered [Spacey] recordings so he could to listen to Jim Williams talking to me, regaling me with stories while sitting in his living room in Mercer House. [Spacey] said he'd already heard Williams on tape talking during one of his trials. But when I saw the movie, I was perplexed by the way Spacey portrayed Williams, because he did it as if he were asleep. He talked as if he were in a fog or sleepwalking. Then I realized what had happened, and I thought it was hilariously funny." Berendt believes Spacey listened to tapes of Williams during the third trial, when he had taken Valium. References Citations Sources Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil () More than Mercer House: Savannah's Jim Williams and his Southern Houses () James Williams - National Register of Exonerations External links Mercer Williams House Museum site 1930 births